THE SOMEBODIES
by N.E. Bode
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 006079111X
ISBN-13: 9780060791117
Ages 10-13
288 pages

Hooray! Our fearless tween heroine, Fern Drudger, returns once again in THE SOMEBODIES, the third and final installment in THE ANYBODIES and THE NOBODIES trilogy by N.E. Bode. To catch readers up to speed, this is what Fern has learned so far. She was switched at birth and her real parents were Anybodies. An Anybody is "a person who by nature or training (concentration and sometimes hypnosis) can transform objects into reality (for example, there once was a girl who reached into a painting of a fishpond to pet the fish) and who can transform themselves into other shapes (a nun into a lamppost, a bad guy into a bull)."

Fern has been enjoying living her new Anybody life with her father, a washed-up Anybody named the Bone, and her grandmother, Dorathea, who also happens to be "The Great Realdo," one of the greatest Anybodies of all time. They live in her grandmother's wonderful boardinghouse that is built from books. Howard, the boy with whom Fern was switched at birth, remains a close friend and gets wrapped up in Fern's many adventures.

The adventure of THE SOMEBODIES starts with the Annual Convention of the Anybodies. The Bone and Dorathea argue over whether or not Fern should attend. The Bone believes that Fern needs to learn more about the Anybodies' lifestyle, but Dorathea thinks that Fern is still too young --- and the convention could be dangerous, because the evil Blue Queen could be lurking. The convention is taking place in Willy Fattler's Underground Hotel, "located near New York City." To be accurate, the hotel is "under" New York City. Fern had read about the famous city in her book, THE ART OF BEING AN ANYBODY, and really, really, really wants to go to the convention. Then, something strange happens when she looks in THE ART OF BEING AN ANYBODY again. The book, which catalogs Anybody history as well as important information about the world of Anybodies, starts predicting history. And what does it predict? That Fern will battle the Blue Queen.

The Blue Queen ruled the Anybodies for eleven days and, in doing so, killed a number of anybodies, including the Blue Queen's husband, Merton Gretel, who also happened to be Fern's grandmother's brother. The Great Realdo (aka Fern's grandmother) with the help of Merton (before his demise) eventually defeated the Blue Queen. But now, the Blue Queen is trying to come back to power by swallowing souls right out of books. And she wants to reclaim her castle.

Fern and Howard are expelled from school because of an incident involving Fern turning the teacher's hair into a small pony. Then, Fern finds a mysterious invitation inviting her to the Anybodies Convention as a special guest of The Secret Society of Somebodies and the guest speaker, Ubuleen Heet. Fern finds that her destiny is calling her to the convention, and when threatened with military school, she even convinces Howard to join her on the journey. And off they go to the city underneath the city. Fern has to figure out how to live up to her role in history. How will she find and then battle the Blue Queen? How will she save the souls that the Blue Queen is destroying?

N.E. Bode (otherwise known as Julianna Baggot) delivers another fun-filled adventure. Similar to Lemony Snicket, the author continues to write in first person to tell the tale mixed in with quirky anecdotes about her evil writing teacher who she claims is insanely jealous and is out to get her.

THE SOMEBODIES is a page-turner from start to finish. There are elements of fantasy, mystery and adventure all rolled into one. Kids will enjoy N.E. Bode's quirky and funny writing style as well as our fearless heroine Fern, who is kind of like the female Anybody version of a famous tween wizard with a scar on his face.

   --- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

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